Alex Meyer, the pitching prospect the Twins acquired from the Washington Nationals at the cost of Denard Span, isn't on the 40-man roster. At the time of the trade, Terry Ryan said it was possible the Meyer would be brought to major league camp.
On Friday, the Twins included Meyer on a 15-player list of non-roster invitees.
It was probably no coincidence that that announcement came on the same day the Twins signed Rich Harden. That makes four starters with major league resumes -- Vance Worley, Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey and Harden -- added since Meyer came on board.
That makes it a lot easier for Ryan to expose Meyer's raw stuff to Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson. I suspect that if the Twins rotation was still Scott Diamond and the Void that Ryan would keep Meyer as far from Gardenhire's sight as possible.
One thing all those low-impact veterans do provide is a chance to let Meyer -- and Trevor May, J.O Berrios and perhaps even Kyle Gibson -- advance at their own pace, rather than be pushed into a role they aren't ready for.
Yes, I think that the signing/trades are more or less a bridge to the younger guys. Some of these guys won't be with the team in a season or two when Gibson, May and Meyer are expected to be 3, 5ths of the rotation.
ReplyDeleteHey Alex, I see you have a plus fastball and a plus slider but to be a really successful big league pitcher you're going to need to learn how to take something off. I'd like you to meet Bobby Cuellar; he taught Johan Santana how to throw a changeup. Why don't you and Bobby hang out during spring training.
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